The Region

A former Los Angeles County probation officer, convicted of taking a bribe to help a youth escape from Eastlake Juvenile Hall in 1982, was sentenced to three years in state prison. However, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Judith Abrams allowed the former officer, Reynaud Hatter, 37, of Pomona, to remain free on $50,000 bail pending an appeal. Hatter was found guilty last June of accepting $8,000 of what was to have been a $20,000 bribe to release from the juvenile facility Anthony Chen, 17, who was about to be sentenced on assault charges. Chen's mother, who testified that she gave the money to Hatter, was the prosecution's chief witness at Hatter's trial.